The present invention is drawn to a wall structure that may be adapted for use in many applications. Specifically, the present invention is a wall structure that may be used in a variety of interior and exterior applications, for example, as a skirting wall, as wainscoting, as a small retaining wall, as a pool wall, as a veneer or fascia, as cladding or siding, as a fence, and as a load-bearing or non load-bearing wall.
Transportable structures such as mobile homes, trailer homes, modular homes and recreational vehicles are usually not built upon a conventional foundation. Rather, they are brought or driven to a location where they remain for indeterminate periods of time. Often, over an extended period at a particular site, such structures may start to settle onto or in the ground due to factors such as deflating tires or weight of the structure. Or, settling may be the result whether related factors such as erosion and freeze-thaw cycles. As a result, such structures may shift and/or sink. In order to prevent shifting and sinking of these structures, and moreover to ensure the structure is level regardless of the ground's topography, they are usually placed on stilts or supports that extend from the ground and elevate the structure thereabove. While this solves the aforementioned problem of shifting and/or sinking, it causes an unsightly visible gap in the area between the ground and the bottom of the structure.
Various attempts to cover the unsightly visible gap have included the use of plants, rocks, wood, plastic and masonry blocks. These structure skirting efforts were either prohibitively expensive, difficult to install, or unattractive and unable to withstand sustained exposure to nature's elements. Solutions that tend to be prohibitively expensive or difficult to install include large, custom-made, cement slabs having a decorative face, and the use of standard cinder blocks and mortar to build a wall around the bottom of the structure. Attempts that fall into the latter category include such easily breakable products as wooden or plastic lattices and plastic or foam panels that imitate a stone or brick wall. Consequently, there is a need for a sturdy, inexpensive, easily assembled wall structure for skirting a transportable structure such as a mobile home.
In other applications, where brick, stone, or concrete is used as veneer or fascia, for fencing, and as load-bearing and non load-bearing walls, these structures are typically non-transportable and permanent in nature. That is, the component parts are assembled as part of a larger structure that are not intended to be easily dismantled. With veneer, for example, a substantial portion of the rearwardly facing surface is typically coated with adhesive or cementatious material to enable the veneer to be securely and directly bonded to a structure. As another example, walls may be constructed in a conventional manner with blocks and mortar, or they may comprise heavy blocks that interlock with each other without the use of mortar. As one may well imagine, it is very difficult and time consuming to reconfigure, remove or repair such structures. In addition, the erection of these structures typically requires specialized knowledge and skills to achieve. In light of these shortcomings, there is an additional need for a wall structure that may be easily assembled, disassembled and rebuilt or reconfigured by an unskilled user without damage to the constituent parts of the wall structure and which may be used as a veneer, fascia, cladding, fence, or as a load-bearing or non load-bearing wall.